December theatre almanac.(Calendar)

American Theatre, December, 2003

100 YEARS AGO (1903)

In the worst theatre fire in American history, 600 people perish at Chicago's Iroquois Theatre when the stage curtain goes up in flames during a performance of Mr. Bluebeard. Half of the victims are children. Following the disaster, theatres across the country will tighten safety regulations.

70 YEARS AGO (1933)

A tongue-in-cheek revival of W.H. Smith's 1844 temperance play The Drunkard, initially scheduled for a one-week run, approaches the six-month mark at San Francisco's Palace Hotel. Its success will soon prompt actor Galt Bell to move the production to Los Angeles, where the movie community, finding it hilarious, will turn it into an even greater hit. The show will eventually rack up 7,510 performances; W.C....

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.